A man passes Anita’s Villas as walks the clifftop footpath through Imerovigli village on Santorini. The path extends from Fira to Oia and the walk between the two villages takes from two to four hours. The cliff walk offers superlative views of spectacular scenery the entire way, and is one of our favourite ways to enjoy Santorini. We would describe the hike from Fira to Oia as a “must do” activity for visitors to the island. Click the image to view a larger photo.
Approaching Filoti, one of more than two dozen fascinating mountain villages on Naxos. This image is one of just 600 photos from the Two Weeks on Naxos album on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page. Click here to open the album and view the photo highlights from our Naxos vacation last October.
Fildisi Boutique Hotel is a 10-suite property on a quiet “away from it all” hillside location overlooking the Livadi valley area of Astypalea island
The hotel boasts superb views of scenic Chora village 1.5 kilometers away
Suite stay: Seeing some old vacation photos that friends posted online today inspired me to sort through pictures of hotels we have stayed at in Greece and start a “Throwback Thursday” feature to profile some of those places from time to time.
To kick things off, here’s a look at the Fildisi Boutique Hotel, which is situated on a hillside near the popular Livadi resort and residential area of Astypalea in the Dodecanese island group.
The Fildisi is a small luxury property with only 10 units — 3 suites, 3 lofts, 2 spa-apartments and 2 double rooms, each named after precious gems (Emerald, Opal, Ruby, Sapphire, etc.). The hotel has a seaview swimming pool, along with an indoor breakfast room / lounge / bar area. A basic breakfast is provided each morning.
Exceptional panoramic views
The hotel faces northeast and has an enviable vantage point from its hillside location, with sweeping views of much of the Livadi region as well as the island’s scenic Chora village, which is perched on the crest of a mountain over 1.5 kilometers away.
We stayed at the Fildisi in May 2009 on an island-hopping holiday that took us from Astypalea to Amorgos, Naxos and Mykonos. I discovered the Fildisi while doing online research about Astypalea, and must admit I chose the hotel mainly because of its great views.
Click on the image to see a full-size photo showing the panoramic view we enjoyed from the two private verandas for the Fildisi’s Pearl suite.
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When freezing rain, snow and icy cold temperatures returned this week after our agonizingly brief interlude of pleasant spring weather, this lovely photo of a gorgeous beach at Paleokastritsa on Corfu instantly calmed me down and took my mind off the wintry conditions outside. The photograph was shot by Flickr member Marite2007 and appears in her Corfu Island photo set on Flickr. Click here to view her Flickr page, which includes beautiful photo sets for a variety of charming Greek islands I haven’t yet had a chance to visit myself, including Karpathos, Lipsi, Kimilos, Kalymnos, Poros, Agistri, Paxos, Antipaxos, Kythnos, Serifos, Leros and Symi. And if you’d like more information about Paleokastritsa,
check out the Paleokastritsa Bliss website.
The new Anna’s Place Restaurant & Bar overlooks Paradise beach from its hillside location next to the Cavo Paradiso nightclub complex. This photo of the restaurant’s beach view appears on the Anna’s Place Facebook page.
New this season: It has been a busy week on Mykonos, and next week will be even busier, as dozens of hotels, restaurants and shops open their doors for Easter celebrations and officially launch their 2014 tourist season.
Several new businesses — restaurants and bars plus Bohème Mykonos, a luxury boutique hotel — are opening for the first time, adding more variety to the island’s diverse and exciting mix of accommodation, drinking, dining and entertainment venues.
New restaurants have already opened at two of the most popular beach resort areas on Mykonos: Anna’s Place Restaurant & Bar at Paradise beach, and Apagio seafood and Aegean cuisine at Ornos. Two more dining spots opening soon in Mykonos Town are the noodle and sushi joint Noodle Mykonos, and the chic new restaurant and cocktail lounge Remezzo Mykonos. And a newcomer to the island’s notoriously intense nightlife scene will be the gay-friendly Sofi’a Thalami Bar.
The colourful logo for Anna’s Place at Paradise beach
Legendary nightclub revived as chic restaurant
If the name Remezzo rings a bell, that’s because it’s the latest incarnation of the legendary nightclub that opened in 1967. Located on the Mykonos Town harbourfront, Remezzo catered to the jet-set party crowd and for decades enjoyed a worldwide reputation as one of the island’s leading dance clubs.
This year, Remezzo is being transformed into what its Facebook page describes as “an exceptional restaurant with sophisticated Mediterranean cuisine and an impressively eclectic international wine list.” It will occupy the “same idyllic setting” near the Old Port as the original bar — upper levels of the big white building near the red-domed church and the neoclassical Mykonos Archaeological Museum, two familiar landmarks near the Mykonos Old Port. (Salparo Seafood and Kavos Cafe occupy the building’s ground level, beside the pedestrian path that leads from the Old Port to little Agia Anna beach in front of the Leto Hotel.)
Remezzo will open for the season on May 1.
This promotional image, from the Remezzo Mykonos Facebook page, shows the new restaurant’s outdoor cocktail and dining terrace.
The Remezzo Mykonos outdoor terrace has superb views of the Old Port, harbour and Mykonos Town waterfront, part of which are visible in this pic of the veranda that I shot three years ago.
Looking toward the big white Remezzo building (center) from little Agia Anna beach at the Mykonos Town harbour.
Seaside seafood and ouzo at Ornos
After eight years, the man who created the popular Ithaki restaurant at Ornos beach has moved on to launch a new venture in premises a short walk away. Sikiniotis Lefteris has opened Apagio Authentic Aegean Cuisine on the east side of Ornos Bay near the Santa Marina Resort & Villas, only a couple of minutes’ walking distance from Ornos beach. (The name is spelled Apagio in some places, and Apaggio in others, but they’re one and the same place.)
The restaurant specializes in fish and seafood, but its menu includes appetizers, salads and some meat and pasta dishes. The Apagio bar serves beer and wine and boasts an impressive selection of more than 40 different raki and ouzo to accompany the delicious appetizers. The restaurant’s indoor dining area faces Ornos Bay, with a wall of glass panels that staff can slide open on beautiful days. Apagio also has a row of outdoor tables right next the seaside, offering unrivaled views of the beach and bay.
Apagio restaurant has a row of seaside tables offering views of Ornos beach and the entire Ornos bay area. The restaurant is located near the entrance to the five-star Santa Marina Resort & Villas. This photo was posted on the Apagio Facebook page by Petro Kalaris.
This photo shows the indoor and seaside dining areas of Apagio restaurant at Ornos. The photo is from the Apagio Facebook page.
Logos for the new Apagio fish and seafood restaurant at Ornos. The restaurant’s bar is stocked with an extensive selection of ouzo and raki.
Asian & Med cuisine in the Italian district
The neighbourhood around Mykonos Town’s Lakka Square is a bustling zone of shops, restaurants and bars close to Fabrica Square (location of the depot for buses servicing Ornos, Agios Ioannis, Psarou, Platis Gialos, Paraga and Paradise beaches). I have often heard people refer to Lakka as “the Italian district” because it’s home to several popular Italian restaurants, including Mediterraneo and Sale e Pepe. A new eatery, Noodle, will add some Asian spice and flavour to the area.
An “Asian fusion” restaurant featuring a noodle and sushi bar and takeout service, Noodle is promising “quick, fresh & healthy” meals. There’s no word yet on the precise date it will be commencing operations — the Noodle Mykonos Facebook page still has an “Opening Soon” banner. [Editor’s update: Noodle will open on April 24.]
Also opening in the Lakka area is Funky Kitchen Mykonos, whose menu will offer Mediterranean cuisine. The restaurant is situated at 40 Ignatiou Basoula, next to Marco Polo Taverna. No photos or further details are available yet.
Noodle Mykonos will bring “quick, fresh & healthy” Asian fusion cuisine to the Lakka restaurant and bar district of Mykonos Town
An image of the restaurant logo, from the Noodle Mykonos Facebook page
Anna’s piece of Paradise
Paradise beach is known around the world as the premier “party beach” on Mykonos, and for good reason — it has a strip of bars hosting wild and crazy daytime beach parties, plus it’s home to the island’s two biggest special entertainment venues, Paradise Club and Cavo Paradiso, where top international DJs spin for events that last from midnight to dawn.
This summer, the Paradise party crowd will have a new spot to drink and dine — Anna’s Place Restaurant & Bar has opened in sea- and beachview premises adjacent to Cavo Paradiso. Anna’s menu includes Greek cuisine as well as seafood, pasta and meat dishes. The restaurant has a sheltered dining room and bar terrace that overlooks Paradise beach and bay.
From the Anna’s Place Facebook page, a photo of the exterior of the new restaurant and bar at Paradise beach
Also from the Anna’s Place Facebook page, this photo shows part of the restaurant’s colourful interior dining space
New nightclubs in Tria Pigadia & former Space disco
Details are scant, but a new nightclub named ODE has opened in the Tria Pigadia (Three Wells) area of Mykonos Town, in the former Aigli bar premises across the street from Astra nightclub.
The club posted two photos on the ODE Facebook page, which was created April 15 to announce the bar’s April 16 premiere, but has not yet added further information.
Musician Alexandros Christopoulos will be one of his exclusive Esthete concept parties in the club on April 19.
That’s the same night that Dream City Mykonos will make its grand debut in the Lakka-area location formerly home to Space disco. The new Mykonos club will be a sister to the Dream City restaurant and nightclub at 30 Iera Odos in Athens.
From the ODE Mykonos Facebook page, a view of the nightclub’s outdoor patio
Sophie’s choice for a new gay venue
Sophie, a French “icon” well-known to many of the thousands of gay travellers who visit Mykonos each summer, is opening a new club called Sofi’a in the space formerly occupied by Thalami Bar (the lower back level of the Mykonos municipal building, right next to busy Niko’s Taverna).
Thalami had been around for decades, and was perenially popular for its live Greek music and friendly, social atmosphere. No word yet on when Sofi’a will be opening — there’s no website or Facebook page for it yet, but it’s getting plenty of buzz on social media as people continue to share photos of the bar’s logo (below). [Editor’s update: Sofi’a Bar held an opening party on April 17.]
There is also talk that the Ramrod Club at Taxi Square will be reopening this season, offering gay and gay-friendly visitors another venue to meet and mingle.
A photo of the sign for the new Sofi’a Thalami Bar in Mykonos Town
Mystery hotel opening in May
There are nearly two dozen 5-star hotels on Mykonos, but the vast majority are situated at beach resort areas like Agios Ioannis, Elia, Ornos and Psarou. Only four are either right in Mykonos Town or within a reasonable walking distance of the town center — the Theoxenia, Kouros, Cavo Tagoo and Tharroe. The Theoxenia is the most centrally-located of the bunch, sitting right behind the famous row of windmills at Little Venice. Kouros and Cavo Tagoo are a 10-minute walk away in the seaview Tagoo neighbourhood on the north side of the Old Port, while Tharroe is a slightly longer walk on the south side of town, high above Megali Ammos beach.
The newest member of the Mykonos 5-star club is Bohème Mykonos, which is also on a hill above Megali Ammos but much closer to town than Tharroe. Scheduled to open on May 15, Bohème will boast 20 luxurious suites with contemporary Bohemian decor in a sparkling white building of traditional Cycladic architecture. Bohème is one of 11 Mykonos hotels belonging to Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
This image of a model striking a sultry pose in a seaview swimming pool at sunset appears on the website and Facebook page for the new Bohème Mykonos boutique hotel in Mykonos Town
New 5-star accommodations on site of former budget hotel
Regular Mykonos visitors will be familiar with Bohème’s location — it’s the site formerly occupied by the 2-star Carrop Tree Hotel and Merolayia restaurant.
I’ve been curious to see how Bohème looks, and especially to learn how its creators transformed the old budget-friendly Carrop Tree building into high-end boutique accommodations. Unfortunately, no-one from Bohème, or from its sister hotel, Porto Mykonos, responded to requests for information that I emailed to their website contact addresses and Facebook pages. But perhaps they’re keeping those details under wraps as part of the new hotel’s online promotional campaign, built around the theme “Let’s get lost in the Bohème mystery.”
Indeed, while the Bohème website and the Bohème Mykonos Facebook page both feature impressive photos that photographer Christos Drazos shot of several different suite interiors, there are no images of the hotel’s exterior or main facilities (possibly because they could well have been under renovation at the time the website was constructed). So until guests and passersby begin posting photos online, Bohème’s external appearance will remain secret.
This photo, from the Bohème Mykonos Facebook page, shows the interior of a superior sea view suite
From the Bohème Facebook page, another photo of a suite interior
The budget-priced Carrop Tree Hotel formerly occupied the property where the new 5-star Bohème Mykonos hotel will open on May 15. I shot this photo of the Carrop Tree in May 2012, and am very curious to see how the building has been transformed into its new incarnation as luxury accommodations.
Popular places opening in April
Popular restaurants in Mykonos Town that celebrated the start of the 2014 tourist season this week were D’Angelo and M-eating, which both opened April 10, and Kalita, which welcomed guests on the 11th. Aroma Bar also opened on April 11 with music by DJ Inspiro, while Scarpa nightclub in Little Venice threw its season-opening bash the same night with DJ Valeron. Nammos By the Sea got summer started at Psarou beach with its grand opening on April 12.
Restaurants opening in time for next weekend’s Easter festivities include Bakalo, which has announced it will open on April 14, and Catari on the 15th. Aneplora near Kalafatis beach, plus Marechiaro and Avra Restaurant in Mykonos Town, all will open on April 16 while Jackie O’ Beach at Super Paradise will follow on the 17th, offering a special Easter menu on the weekend. Salparo Seafood near the Old Port has given the trademark red and white fishing boat next to its patio a fresh coat of paint in time for the taverna’s April 17 opening. Karavaki restaurant at the Vencia Hotel also opens on the 17th, while Avli tou Thodori at Platis Gialos starts its season on the 18th.
The Mykonos Town nightlife will pick up steam with three club openings all on April 16 — Semeli Bar in Little Venice plus Astra and the brand-new ODE Mykonos nightclubs, both in the Tria Pigadia area. Over at Panormos beach, Panormos Beach Bar is aiming to open on the 17th.
Avra Restaurant co-owner Sarah Pearson posted this photo of Avra’s elegant courtyard dining area to Avra Restaurant Facebook group page this weekend. Avra will celebrate its season opening on Wednesday April 16.
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Places opening in May
Although many bars and restaurants target Easter weekend for their annual season opening, there’s always quite a few that don’t open until May.
The Nobu Matsuhisa Mykonos at the Belvedere Hotel is among them; it will start summer service on May 9. Pinky Beach at Super Paradise will host a “soft opening” on May 21, while that night the Paradise Club at Paradise Beach will get the summer party circuit off to a rocking start (see my March 31 post for further information about that.) Interni Restaurant in Mykonos Town will throw open its doors on May 23.
A promotional image announcing the 2014 opening for Pinky Beach at Super Paradise Beach
The English-narrated video Greek Tourism. An eternal journey features stunning views of some of the most beautiful and famous sights and attractions in Greece
Significant Century: With its long and storied history, Greece has been associated with tourism for what seems like an eternity. Not surprisingly, tourism is the country’s oldest industry.
“The Greek passion for travelling, for both knowledge and adventure, began long ago with Odysseus, the paradigm of the eternal traveller; with Herodotus, the first tourist and most famous story teller; and with Pausaniuas, who wrote the first travel guide 2,000 years ago,” narrator Donald Morgan Nielson notes in the promotional video Greek Tourism: An eternal journey.
The five and a half minute film features utterly splendid video photography of spectacular scenery from the Greek mainland and some of the Greek islands, and is accompanied by soaring, uplifting music by Dimitris Papadimitriou. With a script directed by Andonis Theocharis Kioukas, the video was produced by QKas Productions for the Greece National Tourism Organisation (GNTO), and has been posted on the GNTO’s Visit Greece YouTube page.
From 10,000 tourists in 1914 to over 17 million in 2014
The video celebrates the 100th anniversary of officially-organized tourism in Greece. Back in 1914, respected Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos founded the first national service to oversee Greek tourism. That same year, 10,000 tourists visited the country, and the numbers just kept on growing from theret. They reached record proportions last year, when more than 17 million people visited the country — an all-time high. And even though it’s still early in 2014 and the main summer tourist season hasn’t even begun, Greece appears on track for another banner year.
There was an 8.4% increases in the number of international arrivals at Greek airports in January, February and March compared to the same quarter last year, while travel officials report that summer bookings from major markets like Germany and the USA have risen substantially. And with more than 150 new airline routes operating to Athens this season, along with numerous new international direct flights to Mykonos, Santorini, Crete and other islands, Greece appears likely to top its target of 18 million visitors by the end of the year.
Frankly, I’m surprised the number of visitors isn’t considerably higher. But once more people get to view Greek Tourism: An eternal journey, I’m sure they’ll consider planning trips to see the amazing sights and attractions for themselves.
Below is a slightly shorter version of the video which will let you enjoy Dimitris Papadimitriou’s inspiring music without the narration. Turn up the volume, sit back, and enjoy the 4-minute journey to “Greece … a small piece of heaven on earth.”
The December 2004 edition of Condé Nast Traveler magazine featured a profile of Folegandros with this cover photo and headline calling it “The best little island in Greece…getting there is half the fun.”
Hidden gem?: I always have a good chuckle when I read a travel article describing a “secret,” “hidden” or “undiscovered” Greek island that few people are supposed to know about. Usually the island is fairly well-known, both to Greeks and to seasoned island hoppers or anyone who has been to Greece even just once.
Nearly 10 years ago, in its December 2004 edition, Condé Nast Traveler magazine published an intriguing feature story about Folegandros. Written by Adam Sachs, it was entitled Greece’s best-kept secret (until now). We had taken our first-ever trip to Greece just six months earlier, and I bought the magazine because I was eagerly researching destinations to visit during a return trip to Greece in 2005. I had heard and read about Folegandros (in fact, it was already on my “must see someday” list), but at that point in time couldn’t resist buying any magazine that contained photos or information about Greece. The fascinating account of Adam Sachs’ visit to Folegandros made me yearn to see the island even more.
I clipped the Condé Nast article to save in my travel reference files, and re-read it before we went to Folegandros in September 2007. I have perused the article several times since, and have given the link to the online version of it to a number of people during the past six years.
The stunning Panaghia (Church of Our Lady) clings to the steep mountainside high above Chora village
A view of the Panaghia (Church of Our Lady) at sunset. The remarkable white church is one of many mesmerizing sights on Folegandros.
Folegandros photos popular online
I also gave many people the links to my Folegandros pictures on the Webshots.com photo-sharing website where my Greece travel photos had been viewed by more than 2.5 million people before public access to the site was discontinued at the end of 2012. Four separate albums of Folegandros images were among my Top 20 most-viewed albums, and each was seen by more than 20,000 people.
Meanwhile, between 2007 and 2011, I talked about Folegandros in more than three dozen posts on the TripAdvisor.com travel forums, where plenty of people appeared to be familiar with the island. In the three years since then, even more travellers have been talking about Folegandros on TripAdvisor, and one regular Folegandros visitor recently rued the surge in tourist traffic to his favourite island in recent years (he complained that the increase in visitors had led some restaurants to hike their dinner prices, while his beloved nude beach has begun to get too crowded).
Cliffs soar above Angali, one of the most popular beaches on Folegandros
Whitewashed buildings cling to a hillside at Karavostassis, the port village of Folegandros
Folegandros included on Fodor Travel list
So I was more than a little amused earlier this week when I logged into the MyGreeceTravelBlog Facebook page to catch up on news, and found numerous posts on other Facebook pages reporting that Folegandros has been ranked among the Top 15 “undiscovered destinations” in Europe. Each post provided a link to the Huffington Post website, where Folegandros was indeed ranked #12 on a list of 15 Undiscovered European Destinations.
Huffington Post published the list on April 7, but that was just a reprint of a photo feature with the same title that originally had been published March 11 on Fodor’s Travel.
According to the Fodor ranking, Folegandros “proposes a welcomed escape from the hustle and bustle of more popular Greek islands. Perched on a towering seaside cliff, the island doesn’t offer much in the way of attractions—but makes up for it with local charm. Visitors can explore untouched beaches, sample traditional food, and spend quiet evenings contemplating the breathtaking, sun-touched cliffs.”
Most of that description is spot-on correct, but it’s actually just the main village, Chora, that is perched atop a seaside cliff — not the entire island! Grammatical errors aside, Folegandros does boast a spectacular coastline of precipitous and breathtaking sheer cliffs, as well as numerous small beaches that are popular with the thousands of people who visit the island each summer. It also has a pronounced local charm, a generous selection of excellent restaurants, and quiet evenings. But Folegandros is far from “undiscovered.”
Residents of the historic Kastro section of Chora live literally on the edge — their homes are built atop a sheer cliff that plunges hundreds of feet to the sea
Another view of buildings in the Kastro section of Chora (upper left) and the rugged landscape and coastline on the north side of Folegandros
Tourism surged after the magazine profile
When we finally got to the island in September 2007, staff we spoke to at our hotel and at some of the restaurants in Chora told us that tourism had been booming ever since Folegandros made the cover of Condé Nast Traveler. (Just what you’d expect for any place profiled in a travel magazine read by more than a million North Americans each month.)
One fellow told us that, during August, just one month before our visit, dozens of people with no hotel reservations stepped off a ferry, expecting it would be easy to find rooms — but every bed was sold out. Locals scrambled to collect blankets and pillows and create makeshift sleeping quarters so the extra travellers would have a place to bed down for the night. Meanwhile, a mini construction boom was underway, with new hotels and private accommodations being built to cash in on the steadily growing traffic. A concrete frame for a new building was under construction right next to Fata Morgana Studios, where we were staying. And ferry companies had begun serving Folegandros with highspeed passenger catamarans to get more travellers to the island faster than the “milk run” car and truck ferries that stopped at multiple islands en route and took all day to get there.
So it clearly was Condé Nast, and not Fodor’s, that “discovered” Folegandros — and that was a full decade ago. But enough nitpicking about media hype. Ten years from now, some other publication or website will probably post a gushingly positive profile proclaiming that Folegandros is a “hidden gem” still waiting to be discovered.
The Fata Morgana Studios swimming pool at sunset. The property has a view of several nearby islands, including Sifnos, which is faintly visible in the distance behind the umbrella.
Add this captivating island to your must-see list
If you haven’t been to Folegandros yet, consider giving it a visit. The island truly is as wonderful and captivating as the travel journalists claim. And chances are high that you, like us, will instantly fall in love with the place.
We have long been keen to pay Folegandros a return visit, but just haven’t been able to work it into any of our island hopping itineraries because of awkward ferry schedules and connections. Which is a good thing, because as long Folegandros remains off the main beaten path, it should retain its unique charm and character. And that’s what we want to experience again when we finally do make it back.
Below are links to two of my Folegandros photo album collections on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page. The main Folegandros album contains nearly 260 pictures of the island, while the second set features more than 70 photos of Fata Morgana Studios.
Rugged sheer cliffs on the coastline below Hora village provide some of the jaw-dropping natural scenery that delights visitors to Folegandros. Click here to view more than 250 more photos of the island in my Folegandros album on Flickr.
A view of the swimming pool and part of the rental apartment complex at Fata Morgana Studios, where we stayed during our trip to Folegandros. Click here to view my Flickr album with dozens more photos of the hotel.
